Charles Rocket
Charles Rocket (born in Bangor, Maine; died in Canterbury, Connecticut) was an actor who appeared in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "The Disease" as Jippeq, the stubborn captain of the Varro generational ship. Rocket acquired some early recognition as a cast member on Saturday Night Live during the 1980-1981 season (this was also Joe Piscopo's first year), on which he was an anchor for the show's Weekend Update news segment. Rocket gained some notoriety in February of 1981 for uttering the "F" word live on this program, causing some trouble for NBC, who had to apologize on his behalf. He and several other cast members, as well as producer Jean Doumanian, were fired soon after. Since then, Rocket has become well-known for his recurring roles on several television series, appearing as "Richard Addison" in several episodes of Moonlighting and as "Grossberg" in three episodes of the cult series Max Headroom, starring fellow Star Trek guest actors Matt Frewer, W. Morgan Sheppard, and Concetta Tomei. He went on to play "Adam", the Angel of Death, on numerous episodes of the drama Touched by an Angel. The late Paul Winfield was also a recurring performer on this series. Rocket also appeared in two episodes of Quantum Leap, alongside Star Trek: Enterprise actors Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, and in an episode of Hardcastle and McCormick, starring Brian Keith and Daniel Hugh Kelly. Rocket also co-starred with fellow Trek actors Kim Cattrall, Brad Dourif, Bob Gunton, Bebe Neuwirth, and David Warner in the 1993 mini-series Wild Palms. He has also appeared in a variety of feature film. Some of his earlier film credits include 1985's Fraternity Vacation (with Leigh J. McCloskey and Matt McCoy), 1986's Miracles (with Teri Garr and Christopher Lloyd), the cult 1988 science fiction comedy Earth Girls Are Easy (with Michael McKean), and the 1990 comedy Honeymoon Academy (co-starring Kim Cattrall and Jonathan Banks). In 1991, Rocket was cast in the film Dances with Wolves, which went on to win numerous Academy Awards. Rocket would go on to share a special Golden Globe award as part of the cast of the 1993 film Short Cuts. Among those cast members he shared the award with were Bruce Davison and Robert Doqui. Rocket was also a part of the cast of the popular 1994 comedy Dumb & Dumber, as were Mike Starr and Teri Garr. His other films during this time included 1994's Wagons East (co-starring Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips, and Ed Lauter), 1994's It's Pat (with Julianne Christie), 1995's Steal Big, Steal Little (with David Ogden Stiers, Pamela Winslow and Natalia Nogulich), 1997's Murder at 1600 (which co-starred Daniel Benzali, Ronny Cox, Harris Yulin, and Tom Wright), and the little-known 1998 film Dry Martini, in which he co-starred with TNG actors Michelle Forbes and Vincent Schiavelli. Also, both Rocket and Star Trek Nemesis actor Ron Perlman lent their voices to the animated science-fiction film Titan A.E., which opened in 2000. Charles Rocket was found dead near his home in Canterbury, Connecticut on October 7, 2005. The cause of death was ruled as an apparent suicide. His last film appearance was in the 2003 independent drama Shade, in which he co-starred with TNG and DS9 actor Michael Dorn. Filmography * Short Cuts (1993; with Zane Cassidy and Bruce Davison) External links * Rocket, Charles Rocket, Charles de:Charles Rocket es:Charles Rocket